ERLANGER, Ky. — Because of the national aircraft mechanic shortage, fewer people are working on planes than what the country needs.

What You Need To Know

  • Epic Flight Academy opened its 32,000-square-foot aircraft mechanic school at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport

  • Graduating from the school allows students to take their Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) exams

  • Jon Clark, interim director and instructor, said graduates can then go right to work for companies at CVG

  • Clark added his students will be well-prepared because of their interactions with the variety of aircraft available at the airport

A new mechanic school in northern Kentucky is looking to address that shortage by giving students real-life experience at an airport.

Just one month after FEAM Aero opened its second aircraft maintenance hangar on the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport’s (CVG) campus, Epic Flight Academy opened its 32,000-square-foot, $8 million aircraft mechanic school, also on airport property.

The school has now been open for about a month. Future mechanic Zander Benz said the first four weeks of the 20-month program have flown by.

“We’re learning physics right now, and physics is pretty hard," Benz said. "But I mean, you can get through it. All this stuff is doable." 

Benz, 21, started working at the airport to get his pilot’s license.

“That process was taking slow because of the pay for that," Benz said. "I saw Epic Flight Academy, and all my coworkers started talking about it. And I looked into it and thought, 'That’s great pay.'"

"I saw the life of the mechanics out on the airport and decided I’d enroll."

Graduating from the school allows students to take their Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) exams. When they pass those, they become certified airframe and power plant mechanics.

Jon Clark, interim director and instructor, said graduates can then go right to work for companies at CVG. Epic Flight Academy’s main campus is located in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

“The reason for bringing us here is because of the need at CVG airport,” Clark said. “There’s a severe shortage right now. Everybody hears of the pilot shortage, but very few people are talking about the mechanic shortage."

"We call it 'zero to hero,' right? Pilots need heroes, too.”

Clark said his students will be well-prepared because of their interactions with the variety of aircraft available at the airport. He also said mechanic salaries are exploding, and several hundred mechanic jobs are expected to open at CVG over the next few years.

“I’ve been doing this now for close to 40 years," Clark said. "There has never been a better time to become an airplane mechanic than right now."

Benz's new focus won’t prevent him from still getting his pilot’s license, he said. 

“I’d like to, but I’d be happy being a mechanic as well,” he said. “Hearing all these accidents with airplanes, it just kind of motivates me to study harder. This is the real world, and I should know everything there is to this career field.”

He added it turned out learning to work on planes wasn’t as intimidating as he once thought.

“I always thought when I was younger that planes were like astronaut material, and you had to really be on your game," Benz said. "I mean, you do, but I didn’t think I would be able to do that."

"And then I got older, and I realized, ‘Oh, this is something I actually can do.'"

Epic Flight Academy is offering year-round open enrollment and has rolling start dates for classes. Eligible students must be 18 years old and have a high school diploma or equivalent.

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